Relationships
by witchyred
Summary: ONESHOT! Sometimes things aren't always what they seem... No real pairing friendship mainly, but def some leaning towards GAbby!


**Disclaimer: Totally not mine. Except for the Snooty-Mc-Snooty-Pants women (b/c they are def NOT ladies), Bob from Accounting and his brownies, Susan and well… you get the idea… **

**A/N: Anything in italics represents thought. And yes, there are brownie recipes out there just like Bob's… but I don't have any, lol. **

* * *

It wasn't quite past noon, on a slow day at NCIS and Abby was bored beyond tears. She had caught up on all her work, both lab and paper. She had cleaned out 2 storage closets she had been meaning to get to for months now. She had cleaned out her 'fidgety' drawer of dried out silly putty and the like. She took the Caff-Pow mould project and tossed it... for months now she'd been attempting to grow mould in a half drank cup of Caff-Pow. The fact that the mould never started sort of worried her as her consumption was mass, but she figured the less she really knew about it, the better off she was... because she was NOT giving up her precious Caff-Pow's! The rest of the team was in a meeting, save for her, Ducky and Jimmy. She knew that Ducky was having lunch with an old friend of his, and Jimmy was trying to catch up on some paperwork, so she was utterly alone without friends to amuse her for the time being.

It sucked.

She was just itching to get into something... anything... when the idea hit her. She decided to hack into the NCIS security mainframe and play 'I Spy'. It was one of her favourite games, but one she didn't (or couldn't, rather) play often, seeing as how hacking into the system was a serious no-no and pretty much frowned upon. But... if the Director asked... she could say she was suffering from mild hysteria brought on by a serious lack of human interaction and low work-load.

_Yea... that excuse just might fly... _

Fingers flying over her keyboard at lightening speed, she was soon into the system and watching on her plasma, various scenes from around the building. She watched Toby from the mailroom attempt to put a big bottle of water into the water cooler and dump half of it on himself with his fumbling. She eyed Susan from the secretary pool who was on a diet, eyeball the candy machines. Deciding to save Susan from herself, Abby quickly texted her...

_**Don't do it Susan... you'll regret it in an hour. See Bob from accounting... he's got some low-cal brownies, and I'm sure he'll share. You're gorgeous, doll. ;) Abbs. **_

As she watched the people from around the building go about their day, she decided that the lack of audio sucked, and hacked into that, as well. Soon she could focus on one particular camera, and hear what all was going on... after about 20 minutes, she sort of wished she hadn't.

She was listening in on the secretaries' break room. A few Abby knew, and a few she recognized from seeing them around the building. They were chattering away about this and that, when Susan walked in, licking chocolate smears off her long fingers. A chorus of shrieks erupted... "Susan Michelle James! You DID NOT just blow your diet, did you? The very diet you've been on for months now, which I don't really think you need, but you seem very devoted to? You did not just stuff yourself with chocolate... did you?" Susan seemed shocked at the outburst, and then admitted she'd just come from Bob in accounting and it was a low-cal brownie his wife had made. And that she had the recipe to boot... it featured Splenda was beyond delish! They asked how she knew about Bob's brownies, and she said that Abby in forensics had told her. They chattered on a bit about the recipe which did sound easy and good, and then one of the women asked her if she was friends with Abby or what. Susan smiled and said she really wasn't sure... they were definitely friendly co-workers, but they'd never spent any together outside of work. Abby was different, but really nice, she said.

A few of the women snorted.

"Different? I'll say..." "Ohmigod... did you see that short little kilt she wore into work 3 days ago? Sinful! I mean, not everyone wants to look at Energizer Abby's ass, you know!" "I know! And the way some of the guys pant over her?" "Disgusting!" "Well... She's definitely got her pick of the losers in this building... I'm just glad Tim McGee saw the light and got the hell away from her before it was too late."

Abby froze.

_Is that what they really think of me?_ She watched the screen intently. Susan reddened deeply... "Hey! Knock it off! Abby has a great sense of style... sure, it's not anything I may personally wear, but it suits her. And if she can pull it off? More power to her, for it! She's as sweet as apple pie, and has a heart of gold. I can't see how you can sit there and talk about her like that. She's never done a single mean thing to any of you, yet you all talk as though she's the scum of the earth. For shame, ladies!" With that, Susan swept out of the break room, looking upset. The other women all shared a long look... a few more followed Susan out, but a group of the snootier-looking ones stayed on and continued their conversation on Abby.

After awhile, she had to shut it all down. She was just getting too upset. She knew if she hadn't snooped where she hadn't belonged, she wouldn't be upset right now... but it still didn't stop the hurt.

_I know I'm different... hell, I've always know, even when I was knee-high to a grasshopper I knew. So why does it hurt so badly to hear it? Guess it's the way they're sayin' it... Like I was less than them. _

She thought over everything she'd heard... They had criticized everything from her outfits, to her hair colour, to Bert ("A farting hippo! I mean, my God... how juvenile!"), to her relationships with the team, as well as almost every male in the NCIS building. Apparently, they thought her a bit of a skank. And that... that was the funniest thing of all... because the truth was, Abby didn't really have anyone. She and Tim had gone their separate ways, and while it still hurt sometimes, it was for the best. Tony had never been more than a friend to her; Gibbs would never see her in that way... she wasn't some redheaded beauty. Ducky would say he was too old for her. Ziva? Well... she wasn't going to go there... Jimmy seemed to adore her, but Abby knew it would never work. There was no one else in the entire NCIS building really worth her dating time, and ever since her mistake with Mikel, her relationship savvy was questionable, at best.

_I know the truth... I don't need to worry about what other people think. I'm better than that. Who cares, right?_

So why did it seem so hard to convince herself?

Not too long after that, a call had come in. The team had gone out, and soon the evidence came in, bagged and tagged and waiting on her to do her magic. She always enjoyed this... she shone here, could make the evidence speak when the victims could not. It was something that she could do, no matter how weird or different she looked. Uncertainty fell from her when she worked in her lab... She often wished she could work forever, so she'd never have to feel bad.

_Always wishing for the impossible... guess I haven't grown up that much, huh?_

Hours later, while waiting on results and gulping down a Caff-Pow and some powered doughnuts she saw 2 of the Snooty-Mc-Snooty-Pants women going past her lab. They both looked in and caught a glimpse of her with powered sugar all over face and started giggling. Abby felt like she was 15 and awkward, walking into the school cafeteria at lunch amidst a sea of beautiful blonde cheerleaders with Prada backpacks and Sketchers, while she was the dork in combat boots with a beat up old backpack proclaiming I heart The Sex Pistols and Down With Conformity! It's so hard to fit in when you stick out like a sore thumb...

Without even realizing it, or meaning to, large tears formed in her eyes. The doughnut stuck in her throat, and she felt so stupid and small. Especially when she recalled one particularly catty comment made earlier that day about most of the team probably just indulging her... that they didn't really like her, they just indulged her because she was so good at what she did. _Could it be true?_ She'd wondered. She had dismissed it at first, but thinking back, she remembered when McGee had 'made' the baby portraits. The Director and Gibbs and their cute Gibblet... The scary-looking Tiva result... Natural pairs. Natural selection. Who'd want to make a baby with someone who's appearing to emulate a vampire? Who would probably dress the kid outrageously and encourage odd behaviours and drive them to the tattooist for their first tats herself? When she'd realized the answer was no one?

It really, really hurt.

The tears fell unchecked, and she stifled a loud sob, trying to find some Kleenex or something before... too late... the tears were running, the powered sugar at the corner of her mouth and on her cheeks slightly was smeared and she looked a mess.

It was at that exact moment that Tony walked in, coming to get some results for Gibbs. One look at Abby, powered sugar on her face, tears falling like rain, and black streaks from the makeup running down her pale face, and he knew that the damn results could wait. "Abbs?" He called her name softly... Her head shot up and she looked horrified that he'd caught her out. "Oh Tony! Hey! Um... the results aren't quite done yet, ok? I'll get them ready and bring them up to Gibbs myself, ok? I... uh... yea..." He saw through her desperate attempt to send him away and it broke his heart to think that she thought she actually had to do that... that he wasn't good enough to pour out her heart to. "Hey Abbs... it's ok... c'mere..." He held out his arms, and she looked longingly at him, but she didn't budge. "It's ok, Tony. It's ok. Don't worry... I'm fine. I'm just... tired and it's been a long day and..." She sobbed quietly as he simply walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her. After rubbing some small circles on her back while she cried on his shoulder, she sniffed mightily and said she was ok. He nodded and left quickly, telling her to come up whenever she was ready, that he would let Gibbs know, and keep the others away.

Abby spent the next few minutes composing herself before going to clean her face, fix her makeup and gather up the test results.

Meanwhile, Tony had gone back to the bullpen, without results, with makeup, tears and powered sugar staining his shirt, and a very unusual look on his face. He'd been gone for about 20 minutes, and Gibbs wondered just what in the hell had been going on. Tony told them about Abby. Ducky had been upstairs too, and at the description of her distress, he longed to go and see her, but Tony had forbade it. He explained what she'd said... then he also explained that he'd run into another upset woman earlier today, and that he just might have added two and two, but he needed McGee's help. He explained what Susan James had said to him when he'd run into her earlier that day. How she'd been upset by people speaking poorly of Abbs, and how she felt terrible about it, and then begged him to not allow it to judge his opinions of her because she was nothing like those other women and she liked Abby. Tony knew about Abby's fondness for 'I Spy', and it had been a long boring day for in the lab... if she had potentially hacked into the system and caught what those women had been saying?

Well a little logic went a long way to make some serious sense.

In about 5 minutes McGee had their answer... the security system had been breached that afternoon from within in the building... another 2 minutes and it proved it was Abby who had done it. Coupled with the info Susan had given him, they realized rather quickly where Abby's upset lay. Oddly enough, it was Ziva who asked McGee to help her quickly before Abby came upstairs, and when the men heard her request, they all had laughed and decided to join in...

When Abby finally got upstairs, everyone was hovering around McGee's desk... where he declared loudly "done!" Everyone seemed quite pleased. Abby shook off the slight feeling of wariness, and moved forward to Gibbs. "Sorry Boss-man. The results weren't quite ready for you... but here you go, hand delivered!" She handed over a manila folder with her results, and Gibbs smiled warmly at her as he took it. "No prob, Abbs." "Abigail dear, are you alright?" She looked over... Ducky, so astute to feelings was staring at her intently. "Oh. Um, sure Ducky. I'm ok. Why?" He smiled and then fixed a loving gaze upon her... "Your pretty eyes are red; Tony's shoulder is covered in makeup and dear girl... I know you too well, overall. You do realize we love you, right?" Abby smiled at him. Then, when she realized they were all staring at her... her smiled wavered slightly. "Um, guys? Work... work has to be done here..." But Gibbs waved a hand, and upon the plasma a picture appeared...

A chubby faced baby that had McGee's features, but Abby's colouring appeared. She gaped for a few seconds before a small giggle escaped her. Then a baby that could only be described as the love-child of her and Tony. When she looked at him, he grinned widely at her and wiggled his eyebrows. Ducky blushed when their baby was next, but Abby squealed to see it... she was speechless when she saw the baby she and Ziva made. Ziva blushed and laughed and admitted that the idea had been hers. Then she took a moment to admire their dark curly haired child. "You know Abby; we would make lovely babies together." All the men turned to look at them, and now it was Abby's turn to blush. The last baby put up on the screen was her and Gibbs. His startling blue eyes... her dark hair... his strong features... her soft face... Abby was shocked. And maybe... in love...

_That baby... oh... that baby is sooo sweet! _

Gibbs moved forward and wrapped his arms around her. "Abby. Tony ran into Susan... she had been quite upset and had told him about the other women bad-mouthing you earlier. When you were so upset, he put two and two together, and we found out you hacked into the system. You heard them, didn't you? You know Abby... they're just jealous. We love you. We really do. No one spends time with you because we have to... but because we want to. You are so precious to us. You should never think otherwise." He laid a soft kiss upon her temple, and wiped away a few tears that were silently making their way down her face. "Alright. That's it. We're done for the day. Abbs? How about I bring you by your place, you pick out some of your scariest movies, we'll get DiNozzo and McGee to pick up some pizzas and we'll all go to my place. How does that sound?" Everyone gaped slightly at Gibbs's very un-Gibbs-like offer. But her smile was brighter than the sun as she nodded her head eagerly. Ducky said scary movies and pizza couldn't be complete without ice cream, and he and Ziva offered to take care of that. Everyone left, with strict orders to meet back up at Gibbs's in 1 hour.

He walked her down to her lab in silence. Watched her put away, shut down and gather a few things. They walked in silence to his car. Drove quietly to her place. Gibbs informed her to pack her pyjamas too, it would be a long night and technically, she was without a car. She smiled and did as she was told. As they walked back out into the night, to Gibbs's car, he leaned down to gently kiss her cheek and whisper in her ear; "Abbs. Never ever allow anyone to make you feel bad again. You are so special to us... to me... and I know we don't always show it, but we love you." She sighed happily as he squeezed her tight...

_Who says I completely suck at relationships? I'd say I've done pretty damn good... _


End file.
